Inhibition of antibody formation in intrauterine varicella virus infection.

Serological and clinical follow-up of 35 pregnancies complicated with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection showed insufficient antibody response in 2 children with undetectable IgG levels in ELISA and indirect haemagglutination (IHA) test. Secondary infection with VZV at the age of 4 1/2 years of the first child and inapparent infection at the age of 4 years and 3 months in the second child born with congenital varicella lead to seroconversion against VZV. None of the children in question developed acquired varicella primoinfection.

A laboratory study of age-related varicella incidence and prevalence in the Czech Socialist Republic.

During 1972-1981, ten representative population samples totalling 2,916 individuals were tested for antibodies to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) by an indirect-haemagglutination assay (IHA). Statistical analysis of the results provided estimates of age-related varicella prevalence and incidence rates. It transpired that 45% of the child population had encountered varicella at preschool age and another 45% during the attendance of school.

Antibody prophylaxis of varicella in immunosuppressed patients.

ZIG prophylaxis was administered to a total of 39 children immunosuppressed under antitumour therapy and presenting a negative varicella history. Varicella developed in only 2 of them. 47 children received a substitutive prophylaxis consisting of ordinary gammaglobulin NORGA.

Effect of maternal varicella-zoster virus infection on the outcome of pregnancy and the analysis of transplacental virus transmission.

In result of 20 pregnancies complicated by varicella 11 healthy and 6 defective offspring were born, 2 pregnancies were aborted by the physician and one pregnancy terminated by stillbirth of 3 siblings. Laboratory investigation of 16 pregnancies has shown that transplacental transfer of varicella-zoster (VZ) virus did not occur in 13 cases (81.2%).

Rapid assay for antibodies to Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) using a VZV-HEM preparation.

A freeze-dried, formalized-erythrocytes-bound VZV antigen for indirect haemagglutination, VZV-HEM, was prepared. It was used to test serologically 46 children, all of them patients of Prague paediatric clinics, with a known history of chickenpox. For comparison, the same sera were tested by the indirect haemagglutination reaction with freshly prepared VZV antigen and by ELISA.

Isolation of varicella-zoster virus from pharyngeal and nasal swabs in varicella patients.

Thirteen children aged 5 months to 4 years were observed during a varicella epidemic in an Infants' Hospital; except for two normal individuals, the children had various forms of congenital defects. Eleven of the children developed varicella. During the first 3 days of exanthem, a total of 17 VZ virus strains were isolated: 12 from vesicular fluid, 3 from 23 nasal and 2 from 22 pharyngeal swabs.

Study of persistence of maternal antibodies to varicella-zoster virus by indirect haemagglutination, with result control by radioimmunoassay.

The persistence of maternal antibody against varicella-zoster virus was studied by the method of indirect haemagglutination (IH) and a control of the results was performed by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The findings were analysed with reference to the constant half-life of passively acquired IgG and the titre range and frequency of antibodies in 220 persons of fertile age representative of the normal population. Statistical analysis of expected and the experimentally obtained data was performed.

Cell-mediated immunity to varicella-zoster virus as assessed by the migration inhibition test.

The migration inhibition method was used to test cell-mediated immunity to varicella-zoster (VZ) virus in 10 varicella and 11 herpes zoster patients. Control groups consisted of eight children susceptible to VZ infection on serological evidence and 49 normal persons of different age categories. Depending on the positivity criterion adopted, positive results during disease were obtained in 43% or 90% or all tests performed in varicella patients and 47% or 74% in herpes zoster patients.

Varicella-zoster antibodies in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

Statistically significant differences in mean varicella-zoster antibody titre was found between the normal population and Hodgkin's disease group. No difference in mean antibody titre between the four histological categories of the disease was found.

Varicella morbidity in Czechoslovakia.

Data are presented on varicella and herpes zoster morbidity notified in Czechoslovakia in the years 1970 to 1978. The notified varicella incidence is compared with serologically confirmed varicella incidence among the selected groups of children up to the age of 12 from the North-Moravia region. Comparative analysis revealed a considerable difference between the notified and serologically detected cases of varicella.

Radioimmunoassay for antibodies in varicella-zoster virus serology.

The method of RIA for antibodies was employed with success in VZ virus serology. The method is suitable for testing VZ antibodies in the course of varicella or herpes zoster disease as well as for determining anamnestic titres. Its advantages are stability of antigen, objective reading of results and applicability to testing large serum sets.

Testing the properties of an experimental batch of zoster immune gammaglobulin (ZIG).

The methods of indirct haemagglutination (IH) and precipitation in gel (ID) were employed to test the level of varicella-zoster (VZ) antibodies in an experimental batch of zoster gammaglobulin (ZIG). The titre of indirect haemagglutinating antibodies in ZIG was about 64 times higher than in the ordinary batches of normal immunoglobulin and about 8 times higher in comparison with the level of the initial plasma pool. In the reaction of precipitation in gel, ZIG produced 5 to 6 zones.

Varicella-zoster antibodies in adult patient with haemoblastoses.

Indirect haemagglutination (IH) antibodies to varicella-zoster (VZ) virus were investigated, under the identical conditions of a single experiment, in a group of patients with haemoblastoses and 80 normal adults of equal age groups. Statistical significance of the differences in VZ antibody geometric mean titres between the individual haemoblastoses and normal controls was examined by means of variance analysis. A significantly raised mean titre was still found in the Hodgkin's disease group.

Varicella-zoster antibodies in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

In an endeavour to find an explanation for th raised incidence of herpes zoster in hemoblastoses, serum samples of 50 patients with histologically confirmed Hodgkin's disease and 80 control sera of normal persons of similar age groups were tested for the presenchods of indirect hemagglutination (IH), complement fixation (CF), and immunodiffusion (ID). The geometric mean titer of IH antibodies and the rate of positive ID results were significantly higher in the patients' group. The geometric mean titers of CF antibodies did not differ significantly in the two groups.

Indirect haemagglutination reaction (LH)-the method of choice for the detection of anamnestic antibodies to varicella - zoster (VZ) virus.

The method of indirect haemagglutination is a sensitive quantitative serological reaction for the detection of anamnestic titres of VZ antibodies. The curve obtained by the examination of a representative population sample has shown that the occurrence of VZ antibodies increases with the age so that 60% of children of under-school age and 90% of 15-year-old children have antibodies to varicella-zoster virus. In adult age groups, seropositivity ranges between 90--100%.